Here Comes Christmas

Ready or not

There are two approaches to acquiring an appropriate level of Christmas spirit. The first is to drag your heels, grudgingly acquiescing to the ubiquitous music and decorations over the month of December and finally giving in completely on Christmas Eve (known as "the Scrooge approach"). The other is to jump in with both feet as soon as possible, exulting in the hoopla immediately (the "Cindy Lou-Hoo approach"). For those who practice the latter method, there's St. Charles Christmas Traditions. Historic downtown St. Charles (Boone's Lick Road and South Main Street) is transformed into a storybook Yuletide village four days a week, its cobblestone streets filled with Victorian carolers, vendors selling kettle corn and roasted chestnuts, and costumed actors portraying famous characters such as Bob Cratchit, Jack Frost and a little urchin flower girl. Oh, and there are dozens of Santas, too, including Frontier Santa, Father Christmas and Civil War Santa. The festivities begin at 11 a.m. Friday, November 28, when Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive by horse-drawn carriage at the gazebo in Kister Park and are then escorted by the Lewis & Clark Fife and Drum Corps along with the entire cast of Christmas Traditions to Main Street. Admission is free, and St. Charles Christmas Traditions continues on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Wednesday, December 24.
Wednesdays, Fridays-Sundays. Starts: Nov. 28. Continues through Dec. 24, 2008